In the Northern Swedish village of Arjeplog, where auto makers test secret prototypes, car photographers are considered a public nuisance

ARJEPLOG, Sweden—When Andreas Mau started coming to this village of about 3,000 near the Arctic Circle, the photojournalist quickly learned of a deep local bias against one particular group of outsiders: strangers with cameras.

While trying to complete assignments, the 50-year-old Mr. Mau says, he was physically threatened, had drivers try to run him off the road and was blacklisted from some local hotels. “It was like the Wild,...